XV. 730–823.] XXIII. The Apotheosis of Cæsar. 257

770. male defensa monia, the unsuccessful defence of the walls, lit. walls of ill-defended Troy (§ 72. 3 a).

771. natum, Æneas: his wanderings, his descent into the infernal regions, and his war with Turnus (who was supported by Juno) are enumerated.

778. sacerdotis Vesta: the worship of Vesta was under the special oversight of the pontifex maximus, who resided in the Regia, adjoining her temple.

781. veterum sororum, the Fates.

783. ferunt, they declare. arma, tubas, cornua are subjects of præmonuisse, depending upon ferunt. All these signs are said to have preceded Cæsar's death.

789. cærulus, livid.

792. ebur, the ivory images of the gods: this was a common portent. cantus and verba are prophetic voices and incantations, heard in the air.

795. caput, a projecting portion of the liver: it was a very bad sign if any portion of the viscera was cut by the slaughterer's knife.

800. præmonitus, premonitions.

801. in templum: the place of the assassination was the Curia (senate-house) Pompeii, which was a templum, in the Roman sense, as being a place formally consecrated by auguries. This was necessary for assemblies of the Senate, or of the people; while, on the other hand, every ædes, or abode of a god, was not necessarily a templum.

803. Cytherea, an epithet of Venus, from the island Cythera. 805. condere, sc. Cæsarem: in this manner Venus had rescued both Paris and Eneas.

810. rerum tabularia, the archives of fate.

812. metuunt: Fate was even above the gods. 818. deus (pred.), as a god.

819. natus suus, Augustus, his adopted son. 821. nos, i. e. the Fates. suos, sc. socios.

822. illius auspiciis: the auspices could be taken only by the commander, who had been formally vested with the imperium. obsessæ: Mutina was besieged by Antony, B. C. 43, and relieved by Octavius and others, acting then in the interests of the Senate.

823. Pharsalia: because Philippi, where Octavius and Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius (B. C. 42), might be poetically regarded as in the same country as Pharsalia in Thessaly: Emathia is a district of Macedonia.

17

in Sicily, that Agrippa, the admiral of Octavius, defeat Pompeius, B. C. 36.

826. conjunx, Cleopatra, who married Antony.

827. non bene, unfortunately.

828. servitura, sc. esse, etc., depends on minata erit. 833. jura: Octavius, as Augustus, reorganized the civil tions of Rome.

836. prolem: Tiberius and Drusus, sons of Livia Augustus) by a former marriage. They were adopted b step-father, and Tiberius succeeded him as Emperor.

838. Pylios annos, i. e. the years of Nestor.

842. æde, the temple of Divus Julius fronted on the Fo 843. sede, i. e. the curia; this act followed immediatel the murder.

845. eripuit governs animam.

853. obnoxia, subject to.

854. una in parte, in this one point, i. e. his superiority father.

857. ipsos æquantibus, i. e. because they were both divi 859. triformis, i. e. consisting of earth, sea, and sky.

861. Æneæ comites, the Penates, or household gods, b: by Æneas through fire and sword - from Troy, and estab in Lavinium.

862. di Indigetes: these are generally reckoned as heroes; among them was Æneas himself. Romulus (Quin again was son of Mars, one of whose chief titles was Gra "the strider."

865. Phœbě: Apollo was the tutelary deity of Augustus. 866. Tarpeias, the original name of the Capitoline M afterwards confined to a part of the hill.

869. Augustum, an adjective. — quem relates to orbe. 873. corporis, objective genitive with jus.

SHORTER POEMS.

ɔf this, and all the following extracts (elegiac), he Pentameter is most conveniently scanned by half-verses (hemistichs), consisting each of two half-foot.

I. FASTI.

1. The Festival of Pales.

a, § 52, 2, c, R. The form Parilia seems to have se, by an interchange of 1 and r frequent among and also among young children. poscor: this

rly used of a person formally called upon to sing

Italian goddess of pasturage (possibly of the cor). It is sometimes masculine.

is gives the reason why he deserves her favor. — m: the ashes were preserved from the sacrifice Apr. 15), and used for the lustrating rites of the -re mixed with bean-straw (beans being regarded as having a peculiar purifying efficacy), and the the October horse, sacrificed October 15 (see

from this is derived the name of February, the tion, the last in the old Roman year.

: the chief ceremonial of the palilia was leaping f blazing hay and stubble; the herds also were em. This, too, is a cleansing rite.

rea: a bough of laurel was used to sprinkle puri

the suffimen (fumigation) was prepared by the I whom the blood of the October horse had been

she was the special guardian of chastity. brush-broom, usually of laurel.

orona, festoon.

ude.

260

Notes: Ovid.

[FASTI

741. mares: it is hard to see why this epithet should be applied to the olive, except from its tonic bitterness.— tædam, herbas Sabinas, juniper: the name is still preserved

pitch-pine.

in the word savin.

742. crepet, crackle: this was an especially favorable sign.

745. suas, appropriate to her: no blood could be shed on her festival. resectis: this is explained as referring to the cutting up of the food to be shared among the worshippers.

746. silvicolam: the pastures were openings in the forest, or themselves covered with a light growth of wood.

749. sacro, sc. loco. "The list of innocent sins which follows curiously illustrates both the superstitious fears and the trifling observances of a primitive pastoral life. There is moreover a touching simplicity throughout the whole petition, which affords a strong contrast to the frightful depravity of civilized Rome, as described in the pages of Juvenal and Martial.” — Paley. As illustrated, too, we may add, in many of the writings of Ovid himself. 750. bustis: the bustum was a mound heaped up upon the spot where the body was burned.

752. semicaper deus: the rural god Faunus was identified with the Greek Pan, who was represented with goat's legs.

753. opaco, shady.

754. fiscina frondis: "In countries where grass is less plentiful than with us, sheep, goats, and cattle are still fed in great measure on the foliage and succulent twigs of trees: see Virg. G. i. 226, ii. 435; Ecl. x. 30." — Paley.

759. fontana numina, etc. : "Nothing is more pleasing in ancient mythology than the fanciful doctrine which peopled all earth and sea with multitudes of fair female spirits. Every hill and dale, every grot and crystal spring, every lake and brook and river, every azure plain and coral cave of ocean, was animated and hallowed by the presence and protection of the Nymphs." Ramsav.

761. labra Dianæ, referring to the story of Acteon, who saw Diana in her bath: the goddess, as a punishment, turned him into a stag, and he was torn in pieces by his own dogs.

762. Faunum: this well-meaning god (from faveo) was angry if discovered asleep on the ground.

765. redigam, gather in, i. e. at night.

766. vellera, i. e. the carcass having been devoured.

770. vimina rara, wickerwork, through which the curd was allowed to drain; they were called fiscellæ.

IV. 741-815.]

The Founding of Rome.

261

772. quamlibet qualifies teneras.

775. ad annum quotannis.

777. ad ortus: the proper position for the worshipper.

780. sapam, new wine (mustum) boiled down to a third. 781. per, etc., the ceremony alluded to in v. 727.

784. turba, i. e. of interpretations: it is Ovid's custom, on occasion, to introduce a multitude of these, as here.

786. duce, i. e. the shepherd.

787. semina is predicate: that fire and water are called dei, illustrates the ancient custom of deifying all objects and powers of

nature.

791. exsul: the formula of exile was aquâ et igni interdicere; the bride also was welcomed to her new home with these elements. 793. Phaethonta, i. e. his memory; see Met. ii. 1 ; i. 253.

799. pietas Æneia, i. e. in carrying his father Anchises through the flames of burning Troy: dant tela locum flammæque recedunt (Æn. ii. 633).

801. condita est: Rome was said to have been founded on the day of the Palilia.

802. Lares, the household gods: in practice there was very little difference made between the Lares and Penates, but in their origin they were quite different. The Lares were deified ancestors, the Penates were associated with Vesta, and worshipped on the hearth, the name being connected with penus, penetralia, and other words referring to something in the interior.

803. mutantes agrees with incolas understood, subject of supposuisse.

804. et connects tectis and casæ.

2. The Founding of Rome.

809. frater Numitoris: Amulius, who had stolen the kingdom from his brother. Romulus and Remus, grandsons of Numitor, restored his authority to him, and put the usurper to death.

812. ponat uter: not to be understood of the mere act of building the city, which was to be done in common, but as to which should enjoy the dignity of founder.

814. fides, reliance on: the word auspice is derived from avis (auis) and -specio.

815. Palati: this was the original seat of the city: the Aventine, south of it, lay for a long time outside the limits of the city.